A Local Comedy Hour

With it being another Sunday morning, the first thing I had to do after my arrival at office, was to get back to my quiet and darkened corner and begin my contemplative prayer session, which I was eager to get started because I could tell there'd been far too much temporal 'gunk' which had attached itself to me, and the sooner I rid myself of it, the better. My session was longer than normal, and only because I was eve-more careful to make sure I was in the right mindset before moving forward.

I know I'd mentioned it before, and again this morning, I could definitely tell how much deeper I was able to go, which I believe in turn, caused my prayers to become more effective. There's one particular person I've had on my prayer chain for a good three weeks now, and for some reason, I keep having this 'feeling' that person's name shouldn't be there, and if it continues, I'll have to remove it because there's likely a reason which is unbeknownst to me as to why, and for sure I'm not going to go digging for it.

After my session was over, I went over to my piano and ran thru all the hymns I was to play at St. Paul Lutheran this morning, and by the time I was finished, it was nearing the hour for me to head on over, and instead of going straight there, I stopped at a convenience store and picked up a small coffee which I carried with me up into St. Paul's gallery. For whatever reason, I was feeling the need to be hot-wired with caffeine, and judging how much better I was playing this morning, I'll likely grab another cup when I'm playing for them on Christmas Eve.

The hymn I picked to play and sing as a solo during their Communion, was 'Gift of Finest Wheat' which must've went over well because one of their members stopped me afterwards and mentioned how much she liked it, as it's one of her favorite Communion hymns. Of course with their having had their piano and organ tuned just this past week, I could definitely tell the difference. I didn't play the organ, and only because there wasn't time for me to fiddle with its stops, just to get it sounding acceptable, but sometime this week, I'll run over and get the settings in order for their two Christmas Services. I've always loved playing Christmas hymns on an organ instead of piano, and only because it brings back heartfelt memories of years gone by.

Before leaving their church, I stopped to tell Pastor Jane Harris how thankful I was to find they'd finally fixed their sound system because I was at last able to plainly hear everything that was being said up front. Thank heaven they finally got it fixed.

Once I got back to office, I called a friend of mine to tell him my church duties were over and free to help him get a cumbersome piece of furniture moved from one location to another, and a good thing I was there because it was indeed hard to handle. From what I was told, it's going to be repurposed for a 'dead' wall in their home. Considering how long it had been tucked away in the back of a storage building, I'd say it was long over-due being put to a better use. Knowing him, it'll likely end up being quite the conversation piece.

When knowing how many re-useable items end up in our landfills, I wish there'd be more people out there who'd either refurbish old pieces of furniture, or repurpose them. I couldn't even begin to name the number of pieces of furniture and architectural items I've put to better uses. Of course it takes vision, time, a little money and a really big scoop of perseverance.

Speaking of perseverance, I remember reading some years ago where our general public have been 'brainwashed' by all the half hour, hour and two hour movies they've been watching, and unfortunately they've subconsciously been 'trained' to think that if something can't be accomplished from beginning to end in that time frame, then it's not worth tackling. I can guarantee over 90% of our workforce can't keep their noses out of their smart phones the entire time they're working, and every moment they're on them, they're reducing their productivity. I know it would be a wicked thing to do, but we'd all have some really good laughs if we'd have hidden cameras installed in our our government offices, and then create a local comedy hour which would be broadcast on a weekly basis. Now wouldn't that be a hoot and definitely and eye-opener?

As a follow-up on last night's journal page, I want to also mention how much all of us should stop allowing City decisions to be made without public input, because it's definitely time for all of us to stop complaining about all the money that's being wasted, and start putting our foot down. Yes, we'll always have those who're smug, indifferent, complicit, and too busy chasing the 'almighty dollar', but I know for a fact, there's a quiet majority who've not been in favor of all the hair-brained projects and money-pits our taxpayers are being saddled with for years to come. With that said, please make your opinions be heard by calling and emailing our City Council members. Believe me, the time has come for transparency and accountability to reign in our City government.

The remainder of my day was spent working over at my little/big project, which lasted for a good three hours until my aching muscles were telling me it was time to quit, so I went back to office and changed into my street clothes and headed in the direction of home. While on my way, I stopped to inspect a listing of mine which will be closing this coming Friday, and a bit surprised to find personal items still there, so I'll likely be calling the owner tomorrow, just to make sure it'll all be gone before the end of this week.

Tonight's One-liner is: Do not let flattering people coax, wheedle, and deceive you; they're most likely after your barn.

original post ... https://niowarealty.net/life/2023/12/17/a-local-comedy-hour/